Thirteen Hours
by ValentineNights
Summary: Sarah won...right? But Jareth knows something she does not. Isn't that always the case with a man? But this time, it's a King. Look everyone, a longer story! Will be rated M for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"I wish the Goblin King would come take me away right now."

A rush of glitter, strong and strange winds, and an unsettling, mind numbing transportation later Sarah Williams was remembering why she had tried to put into practice thinking before speaking years ago. When it was all over, she felt herself no longer surrounded by warmth and soft plushy carpet. Instead, she was kneeling on hard, cold stone and it felt like the air was leeching something from her. Opening her tightly shut eyes, she was greeted with the unfortunate sight of grey granite, a black stone and white bone throne, and a lithe, darkly clad figure of a lounging Goblin King.

She instantly shut them again, tighter if possible.

'My my my." Each syllable was dragged out and hit her as though little pebbles were striking against her skin. "This is very unexpected but not at all unwelcome sight." Little sniggers could be heard all around as what could only be little goblins chortled at her misfortune, their king's remark, a mixture of both, and some out of pure instinct to laugh when the king said something.

"My dear Sarah, I do believe the last time we met you had learned the importance and power of words."

"The last time we met you were a conniving and evil bastard who stole my brother and tricked me into running your insane Labyrinth."

An instant hush fell over the room. She figured after the comment she just said, she should have the courage to at least open her eyes and face what was coming to her. Not surprisingly, the throne was completely empty now, devoid of any life except for her and the Goblin King. Whether the goblins had made themselves scarce or Jareth had done that for them she would never know. Speaking of Jareth, he did not look the least bit angry. In fact, he looked very delighted. Which just did not make sense. At all. He had leaned forward and was looking intensely into her eyes and searching her face. As he studied her, she studied him.

Jareth had not aged a single day it seemed. Four years and he looked exactly the same. No, she now noticed he had grown the shorter parts of his hair out and cut the longer sections so it looked more orderly and less chaotic. Somewhat. Although his hair may have become more controlled, his mismatched eyes were just as untamed and wild. They bored into hers, relentlessly staring her, making her aware that she was still dressed in the plaid brown and pink boy shorts and pink tank top she had worn in preparation for bed.

Sarah drew up her knees to her chest self consciously and wrapped her arms around her bare long legs. She was the unfortunate and unwitting picture of innocence in her dress and manner, down to the silver butterfly ankle bracelet and the way she held herself together, afraid she might lose a part of herself.

In a swift and startling move, Jareth was out of his chair and crouched in front of her, sitting on his heels so he was staring into her face even closer. This happened too fast for Sarah and she fell backwards landing on her back in half fright and mostly shock. She dropped with a squeak her arms still clutching her legs and she rolled like a potato bug in front of Jareth's feet. Now it was too much for Jareth and throwing his head back he let out his merriment in a mocking chortle, his laughter filling the throne room. Sarah scrambled to right herself and finally stood up for the first time and backed away several steps, away from the still crouching Goblin King.

He watched her with hooded eye and she fidgeted under his intense scrutiny.

"I-I, I think I should be going now."

He drew himself up to his full height in a leisurely fashion and stared down at her. "Oh my, precious Sarah." A full, smirking smile. "You're not going anywhere."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Think you've escaped me so fast, my dear?" Jareth leaned in closely, too closely and twirled a strand of her chocolate brown hair with a gloved finger. He chuckled lowly in her ear as he continued to twirl, wrapping the twirled strand around his wrist until she was completely caught up in his grasp. Sarah gasped as he gave an ever so light tug on the strand, prompting a swift answer.

"I said no such thing."  
>"Oh, I know you didn't say, but from what your body is telling me, you think you've won."<p>

"And haven't I?"

It did not sound like a question. Rather she was reaffirming her victory that had occurred three years ago. She did not feel like rubbing it in his face, but he brought the subject up so it was his fault.

His only response was a very dark chuckle and she watched as a tingle of fear and desire ran down her spine while his thin lips pull tight over his sharp teeth. Jareth snapped his fingers and her hair fell away from his hand, freeing her momentarily, if only from his physical hold. He touched her jaw line, tracing the delicate bone before dropping his hand heavily to lean on his cane that apparently been magicked out of the air.

"You have not."

Her eyebrow shot up at this new tactic. She had won, that was that, he had nothing left to put in front of her, she had already defeated it all.

"Pardon?"

"You have not won."

"I heard that part, you-" she bit back the urge to curse at him. Her frustration must have showed on her face because he laughed again. Which only made her cheeks turn even brighter as her tempter grew and she fisted her hands at her side so they would not fly at his face.

She snapped out, "Do you care to explain yourself or am I just going to continue to amuse you?"

Jareth's face instantly fell serious and while he kept his hands at his sides, it felt as though he were touching her. Gripping her and holding her down. He spoke in an almost inaudible heated whisper.

"My dear, naïve little Sarah. You may amuse me, but that is not the most important or only thing you do to me."

All moisture was sucked from her throat and her tongue clamped to the roof of her mouth. Sarah had to breathe through her nose so she would not choke and make an even greater fool of herself. She shifted from one foot to the other as she fought for the ability to think clearly and speak two sentences together. While she attempted this, Jareth watched her with an amused and pleased smirk, his hair playing lightly over his features.

Sarah waved a hand back and forth as she fought off the somewhat awkward and uncomfortable situation by reverting focus back to the matter at hand.

"You didn't answer my question. What do you mean I haven't won?"

"Exactly what I said, you have not won. You never did." Jareth saw the temper rise again in her face, so before she could make another outburst he quickly added, "You never solved the Labyrinth."

Her brows now scrunched together in confusion, her forehead wrinkling together in fine lines as she tried to pick apart this new excuse the Goblin King has thrown at her.

"Yes I did. I made it to the center of the Labyrinth, to the Palace beyond the Goblin City. Surely you remember such an incident, O King?" Sarah threw in the title with a sarcastic smile and a mocking tone.

Jareth's nostrils flared at the insult and he physically vibrated so it looked like he was violently trembling. Sarah thought for one moment that she might have finally stepped over the line but only for one moment. She relaxed internally when she remembered that he would not hurt her. He loved her. And she knew it. She remembered.

Jareth had finally calmed down and he closed his eyes to let out a shaky breath. When he snapped them back open, he was once again under control of his emotions and a hard look came over his face.

"You'll kindly remember who you address, precious. You test my boundaries. Be careful to learn your limitations as well as mine."

"Duly noted," was the crisp reply that came back.

Turning his back on her, Jareth spun on his heel and began to pace ferociously in front of his throne, waving his cane away. Sarah patiently folded her arms and shifted to her other foot every so often while she waited for him to speak.

This scene continued for some time, neither of them wanting to be the first to break and talk to the other. Neither of them not admitting their thoughts or feelings or apprehensions. Jareth abruptly clicked his heels together and Sarah snapped to attention, perhaps a little too smartly. He gave her a derisive sneer and commenced to speak.

"Yes, you made it the center of the Labyrinth. Huzzah for you. You are the first to be able to do so. But _before_ you get too smug and full of yourself, you might want to remember the words that I first told you on that hill before you stepped into the Labyrinth."

Sarah fought to remember those very distant words. She was so concentrated and focused on Toby, Jareth was only a distraction then, his words were even less important. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

"Perhaps you will allow me to refresh your memory, precious?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Another rush, strangeness, winds, and all, and she was back on that faraway and lonely hill. The wind was just as strong, the terrain just as bleak and remote, and the dead tree still leaning crookedly to one side, splattered with speckles of glitter.

Sarah tried to settle the flip flopping sensations in her stomach after being transported twice in less than twenty minutes. No wonder humans did not have magic, they would not being to handle it. She held one hand to her stomach and slowly breathed in through mouth and exhaled through her nose, all the while watching Jareth.

He had wandered over to the dead tree and leaned carefully on it, probably not wanting to risk most his weight on the frail branches. As if he sensed her eyes on him, he answered without taking his gaze from the view below him.

"The nausea will pass, you will get used to it."

"Your concern overwhelms me. And the hell I'll get used to it," she muttered underneath her breath, still trying to resist the urge to throw up all over the Goblin King. As funny as it would be. For a moment. Until he got angry.

Jareth quirked up an eyebrow with ease, hearing her but choosing not to comment. His eyes traced the lines and patterns of the Labyrinth in front of him, the sprawling maze twisting and turning in on itself dozens of times, creating more dead ends, holes, and obstacles than it knew what to do with.

Sarah's stomach had finally calmed and she was able to gingerly walk over to where the Goblin King stood, picking her way across the orange sand and carefully trying not to step on dead twigs and little rocks with her bare feet. Defiantly, she walked a little past him, refusing to stand either to the side or behind Jareth. She heard his chuckle but it was her turn to ignore him and not say anything. She too looked down at the incredible view but her eyes were soon drawn up from the place of her adventure and looked at the dominating feature on the horizon. That of the tall and ominous rickety spire of the Castle beyond the Goblin City.

Sarah shivered and goose bumps rose on her arms that had nothing to do with the slightly chilly wind on her exposed skin. Without saying a word, Jareth swept off his black cloak from his shoulders and deposited it her own, briefing touching her delicate shoulders before settling it around her so it would not needlessly flap in the wind.

Sarah was overcome with a multitude of sensations as she was wrapped up in Jareth's cloak. It was still warm from his body and touched every part of her in an almost caressing way. It also smelled amazing, exactly like him, tangy from his magic but his own unique scent that she could not place the right name to. It was like was touching her…

Sarah turned her face to look at Jareth, half expecting him to be there actually touching her. But he was not. He stood in precisely the same pose he had been in earlier, only now cloakless. It made his seem less intimidating, but she knew the power and the menace was still there from the set of his jaw and while his stance was seemingly relaxed, it was poised and ready to spring should the need arise. He reminded her of a snake, a very beautiful snake, coiled and ready to strike, with or without warning. She wondered very briefly she had already been struck herself.

Sarah shook her head vehemently, ridding the thought from her mind almost as soon as it had come up. Where did that even come from anyway? What a weird notion. She shouldn't be thinking things like that, it did no goo-

"Are you done berating yourself for whatever indecent thought you had?"

Sarah's cheeks immediately blushed pink, even to her ears. She stammered, "I didn't have any indecent thoughts. I-I don't know that you're talking about." She focused straight ahead, refusing to look at him even though he had a clear view of the side of her face.

Another chuckle from him and her lips pressed tight together so she would not say anything. It would be best not to irritate him too many times in one encounter. It was healthier that way.

Deciding to change the subject, she instead looked again at the lonely looking fortress on the skyline, and without thinking or realizing it, she echoed, "It doesn't look far." Sarah jumped when she heard his voice in her ear, "It's further than you think."

She turned around and glared at him. "Quit that."

Jareth has a smug smile on his face, enjoying the game they were playing.

"I was merely following the pattern you set, precious. You chose to say the words. Again."

Another glare for him and Sarah fully turned her back on him. So much for trying to act more mature and grown up than she had been three years ago. What was it about him that made her so irritable and act so childish?

"You see a little of yourself in me, dear Sarah."

She again jumped, weirded out and a little more apprehensive at the idea that Jareth might actually be able to read her mind. She gave him a strange look, her eyebrows scrunched together and a question deep in her eyes.

"No, I cannot read your mind. I can, however, read the feelings on your face. You truly do wear your emotions on your sleeve, my little dramatic Queen."

"I'm not your Queen," Sarah spat.

A hiss of an indrawn breath told her she had hit a nerve. His next words confirmed it.

"No. You most certainly are not. My Queen would never be so juvenile and insensitive to others," Jareth replied, venom in his voice.

"Whatever," Sarah mumbled back. Didn't matter to her what his Queen was or wasn't like, didn't apply to her. So why did it sting?

Jareth took several steps until he was beside her but still several feet away. They both studied the landscape below.

"We are both aggressive, competitive, and arrogant. Our personalities are almost exactly identical. Stubborn as hell, we refuse to give up or give in. We want our own way. And when we do not, we sulk. However," he turned to face her, looking her fully in the eye. "That is where the similarity ends. When you would stop and know the end, I do not stop. I never end. What I want, I get."

Jareth's eyes burned into hers and Sarah's breathing became shallow and labored. He was too much, too much…She broke off the contact and was first to look away.

"I believe you."

"As well you should, precious. As well you should."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The dust puffed underneath Sarah's toes, her polished nails squirmed to seek heat in the soil while her legs were kept warm and covered by Jareth's cloak which she gripped unintentionally tight to herself. She hoped he did not get any ideas from her holding the thing around her; it did not make any sense to shiver and remain cold while a perfectly viable and _warm_ option was presented.

While loath to bring his attention back to her, Sarah was not going to just stand there any longer and let Jareth patronize her. This needed to end.

"I won. Now, explain yourself."

Since it seemed to suit him, he candidly answered her.

"You had thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before your baby brother became one of us forever."

His voice was haunting and mocking, exactly as it had been years ago. Everything, the inflection of his voice, the wind teasing his hair to blow into his face and then out again, everything was the same. Almost. There was the screaming obvious differences: the missing thirteen houred clock, her under-dressed apparel, his billowing cloak which she now had, and the lack of a goal. Sarah was not here for a baby this time. For something else entirely. Answers.

She shivered violently and withdrew slightly into his cloak, hoping Jareth would not notice the gesture. "I remember now," she said in a very small, quailed voice. Well shoot, she should have just gone and told him that he frightened her. As if he did not already know by the way her voice shook and she refused to look him in the eye again.

"I thought you might. Your mortal mind just needed a little nudge in the right direction of memory."

_Little nudge and mortal mind, my ass._

"What does me beating your Labyrinth have to do with all of this?"

"Why, nothing at all."

With a very irritated and annoyed look, Sarah glared him Jareth yet again, probably not for the last time. The man was so frustrating!

"Then what-"

"Would you hush? I'll never be able to answer your questions with all of your petty little comments bursting on my thoughts." He answered her as a vexed parent might chide a questioning child.

Sarah literally bit her tongue so that she might not say something she would later regret.

"Now, if you are finished, I'll explain." Jareth looked at her out of the corner of his eye so he could catch her response.

She exaggerated a bob of her head in an embellished manner of gesturing for him to continue. He dipped his head in return and she rolled her eyes.

"The moment you stepped down this hill, you acquiesced to the terms I previously stated. In order to win your brother back and insure that he would not become a goblin, you were to solve the Labyrinth. _Not_ to make it to my castle. That was only where he was, not the ultimate means of your challenge. You failed to _solve_ the Labyrinth. And now you are mine."

He descended on her in a predatorial saunter and Sarah squeaked as she saw the look on his face. Purely carnal, his mis-matched eyes raked her over as if his cloak was not shielding her from his eyes. Knowing it was illogical, stupid, and futile, Sarah tried to escape anyway. She had only managed a few steps backwards before she tripped over a protruding dead tree that had the audacity to be in her way as she frantically tried to evade the advancing Goblin King. She flung out her arms in an attempt to balance herself and regain equilibrium, but it only caused the dark cloak to escape her shoulders and flutter away. Refusing to utter a sound, Sarah held her breath and closed her eyes tightly again for the third time that night as she braced for impact. And found none.

OoOoO

Whatever it was, it was soft, it was plushy, and it was_ nice_.

Really not wanting to open her eyes and look, that sort of thing usually got her into trouble, well actually it was her words but never mind, she opened them anyway and took stock of what she saw.

Sarah lay in the middle of a great expanse of a soft, dark bed which could easily fit four or five people. And knowing Jareth, it might have.

_Ew, stop that._

Ignoring the rest of the bed, she looked around the rest of the room, grudgingly liking what she saw. The chamber fit him perfectly. It had to be Jareth's, it _screamed_ him. Not only did it smell like him, that tangy, familiar smell she still could not name, it simply looked like something he would fashion his sleeping quarters as.

The floor was a polished black marble, a glassy shine where it was not covered by thick dark rugs that where periodically placed over the room. There was a red damask covered reclining couch situated near a cold fireplace and a small writing desk with a chair a little beyond that. A few tapestries covered the stone walls to keep in warmth and well she leaned a little closer to the one nearest the bed, she quickly recoiled in horror and bright flush spreading across her face. This tapestry, no _all_ of the tapestries, was covered in lewd scenes and moments. Nymphs bathing in crystal blue streams where peeped upon by leering satyrs and centaurs. In another, mermaids combed their hair on rocks while horrid sea creatures put their tentacle arms and suction cups on their tails and flesh. Many of the coverings were covered with pictures of various sexual acts and positions being performed, some of the subjects human, most of them not.

Sarah gasped as she spied one particular hanging just above the fireplace, just out of reach of any sparks that could escape and singe the tapestry. It was a representation of a man and woman wrapped around each other in ecstasy, their faces contorted in pleasure and bliss. Outwardly repulsed but inwardly drawn, Sarah slipped off the bed and walked nearer for a closer examination. The man had wild silvery-blond hair and long limbs. In fact, he looked like the Goblin King. And in his arms was a dark-haired woman whose face was indistinguishable.

Coloring even more, Sarah stepped back and sat hard on the couch she had admired earlier. Of all the places in the entire Labyrinth, Jareth had to bring her here. Of course he would. She snorted and leaned back to rest on the soft material. How like Jareth, placing her out of her element and expecting-

"Thinking of me, precious?"


	5. Chapter 5

"That's for me to know and you never to find out, creep!"

Jareth was standing behind her, leaning over a shoulder and breathing softly in her ear as he whispered the words. He straightened when Sarah spoke and stepped resolutely back and into her line of vision. Instead of infuriating him like Sarah meant to, Jareth only laughed again; the man was full of endless mirth at her expense it would seem. He grabbed the chair at the writing desk and drug it over near to where she was sitting on the damask couch and threw himself in it. His left elbow leaned on a chair arm while his right leg dangled from the other. Even the way he carelessly did things, without thought, made Sarah envious. The way he could sit down and make it seem effortless and graceful…She mentally frowned at herself.

"Perhaps I was thinking about you."

He grinned wolfishly as a reply.

Sarah drew herself forward and sat on the edge of the seat, leaning forward as if anticipating telling him a secret. She smiled small and hid her eyes coyly beneath her long bangs and peeped underneath them once she was sure she had gotten his attention. Jareth sat there in rapt attention, watching her every move yet still harboring a wary look in his eye at her change in demeanor. His swinging leg stilled and she could see that his hand now no longer rested on the arm of the chair but instead was wrapped solidly around it in a tight grip.

"Perhaps I was thinking about how I'm going to make you pay for all the things you did to me in the past and everything you've done to me since I've been here." Her sweet expression and outwardly submissive demeanor belied her venomous words.

This time his chuckle was strained, very strained.

"Those would be very unhealthy and very selfish thoughts for you to be thinking. If you _perhaps _had been thinking of them in fact." Jareth picked off an imaginary piece of lint from his black shirt and the movement drew her eyes to his bared chest, alighting on the pendant he wore. Sarah did not realize she had been staring at it for some time in the mutual silence until he shifted and suddenly she was staring directly into his face, his mis-matched eyes. Jareth stared balefully at her for a moment, completely expressionless as she scooted back further against the couch and her face flamed in embarrassment at her blunder in being caught at staring at him. At his _chest_ of all things!

"You were not thinking such things were you, precious?"

Sarah opened her mouth but could not voice anything. His eyes, his amazing, beautiful, strange eyes-did they have the power to steal her voice? She cleared her throat and found out that was not the case. She started again when she discovered she could not lie to him. There was something deep here; if she lied something bad would happen. How she knew this, she would not be able to explain it, even years later. Dropping her head a fraction of an inch, but only a fraction, in defeat she whispered.

"No."

"That's what I thought. Even after I so graciously reminded and explained to you of the terms of our contract, saved you from falling down and hurting yourself by transporting you here, you still have the impertinence to try and anger me. You have not changed a bit, Sarah." With that final sentence, Jareth leaned back into the chair, knowing the storm that would erupt from her soon, and stared at her, fully seeing the contradiction of his words. Sarah had changed. Very much so.

Sarah fumed. "How dare you! How dare you speak down to me like I was a child and take me to task as if you had the authority to do so! Nothing you have ever done has been gracious or generous!" She spit out the last two words like they were poison and her mouth grimaced as though she had tasted something sour. "You haven't explained anything and you only "saved" me so you could bring me here and humiliate me! Because that is all you know how to do, is humiliate, belittle, and hurt me!" Bright, angry tears appeared at the corners of her eyes and even though she willed them away so Jareth would not be able to see how very much his words had stung her, they remained and she blinked rapidly several times to clear them. Her chest was heaving in anger and frustration, her hands fisted at her side as her tirade was complete. She finally let loose all the feelings of powerlessness she had felt so long ago.

They stared at each other in charged silence, both of them refused to speak as they harbored hurt feelings and regret.

Jareth was the first to move, but not in defeat between their silent war. He drew in a deep breath and in a single exhale he shocked her to the tips of her manicured toe nails.

"Do you sometimes wish that we could start over, Sarah?"

All Sarah could do was gape at him, her mouth open and eyes wide as she tried to take her old nemesis trying to turn the other cheek. It was…too much.

"What's said is said."

His eyes darkened in rage and frenzy, and even though Sarah realized she stepped over the line wantonly this time, she did not care. He asked for it, he hurt her so he deserv-

The beautiful and deadly snake struck.

Sarah never saw him move, never heard the chair clatter behind him, never felt him jerk her up to smash her body against him. One moment he was sitting with passionate fury in his eyes, the next, he was holding her in his arms with something else besides passionate fury in his hazel and blue eyes. Sarah opened her lips to voice her objection at being held in such a fashion when Jareth descended and settled his mouth onto hers.

Her first response was shock, the second anger, and the third was wonder. This was by far the most startling thing Jareth had done yet and the most uncalled for in her opinion. Thus, her first reaction. And how _dare_ he manhandle her like this? Was she a plaything, only around for his amusement and entertainment? The reason for her second reaction. And for the third…

The man could _kiss._ Jareth's lips were like fire and ice and lightning, startling with their movement and alarming with the amount electricity that was sent through her system. One hand cradled the back of her head and supported her neck as well as holding her to him, ensuring she would not get away. The other was splayed against her back, the glove clad fingers lightly digging in, a symbol of his strength and dominance. Like he needed any more proof. Sarah's eyes eventually drifted close and the hands that were up to push him away were now only lightly resting against his chest and had even begun to fold themselves into the material of his silky shirt.

Sarah so far had been unresponsive into the kiss, completely overwhelmed as she was; it was a miracle she was still standing. That or Jareth was holding her up more than she realized. When the initial shock factor passed and Sarah remembered that she was being unwillingly held in the arms of her enemy, her eyes flew open and her hands shoved against him as hard as she could.

Which did not move him an inch. Instead, he grabbed her even closer, skimming her slim side with one hand. Outraged, she opened her mouth in protest but somehow had forgotten her lips were still locked with those of the Goblin King. He used the opportunity to his advantage.

His tongue swept in and touched hers and Sarah was lost. How was so much pleasure possible from one kiss? On sensory overload, Sarah was not aware of anything other than the being that held her securely in his arms as her knees buckled in weakness. She was now holding onto him desperately as he plundered her mouth, determined to leave nothing untouched and unclaimed by him. Jareth was finally granted the reaction he wanted: she came to life in his arms.

Sarah not so subtly crept her hands up his chest, past his collarbone and shoulders and dug her fingers into his hair as she found purchase and a hold on him. She accidentally scraped her nails across his scalp and he violently shuddered. Oh, so that was how to play the game. She gently tugged on the ends of his hair and he growled into her mouth. She was still reveling in her newfound power and bold sexuality when the unexpected...happened.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I want to apologize to everyone who has been waiting the past MONTH for me to update. I am SO sorry! I busted my finger and I hope everyone knows how hard it is to type when your right pointer finger is messed up. But for now, chapter 6! I finally reveal the true reason of the story! Enjoy! *psst, review!*

Jareth spun away from her furiously, detaching himself so fast and suddenly that Sarah fell once more to the couch. He swore and put a hand to his mouth, to muffle his words or to wipe away the memory of their kiss, it was unclear. His back was turned to her and Sarah could see the rigid lines that formed his body shake in what she imagined disgust and loathing at being goaded and aggravated into physically taking action against her. She was shaking herself but mostly in apprehension of his next move and a little in fear and remembrance of her first kiss.

She was not a fool enough to think that just because Jareth had kissed her he actually cared for her and the future would be perfect now, no matter how much she may have wished. Her wishing is what landed her in this most recent predicament in the first place; she might need to reconsider a better way of ascertaining and providing for the future.

"Sarah, you will tell me right now why you are here and the asinine reason you wished yourself away into my presence." Jareth turned a clipped 180 degrees and bored his gaze into her as invisible charges from their eyes seemed to link and connect, not once, but over and over again. He was the Goblin King once more: hard, unyielding, and a healthy potential for cruelty lurking in his eyes. "I will not tolerate any more of your provocations or petty words, you will state your business, and you will stop wasting my time." He said no more but waited, his hands gripped into fists, the black leather straining as fury fought to stay inside his body and not to lash out.

"You owe me three hours."

Whatever Jareth was expecting, Sarah's statement was not it. To his credit, his face betrayed nothing, remaining hard but his mismatched eyes now held less certainty. Sarah's breath was let out in a whoosh as she expelled the real reason she was here.

This was about retribution, justice, something Sarah had found sorely lacking in her last trip to the Labyrinth. As annoying as it had sounded to everyone when her fifteen year-old self exclaimed it like a chant, the cry "It's not fair!" still held true. If Jareth was going to claim her under false presumptions and pretensions, she would make sure he suffered for it. And she would laugh when she proved to be the champion. Again.

Standing on his black marble floor, in front of the cold fireplace, Jareth crossed his arms and leaned back til one shoulder lightly touched the gilded mantle. "Kindly explain yourself." He left off his epithet for her but it was there, hanging in the space between them and buzzing in her head. He lowered his head, examining his boots as if he did not care enough to look her in the eye to hear her explanation.

Sarah scooted forward again on the couch and without pause launched in. "I remember the words you told me on that hill. You said I had thirteen hours to solve the Labyrinth in order to get Toby back. Well, I didn't solve the Labyrinth, but you didn't give me thirteen hours. You can't have me because I'm not yours to claim, under our original _agreement_ I still have three hours left that you stole from me in the caverns before you claim me in Toby's stead."

Silence once again claimed the room as the occupants each thought different things. Sarah's declaration left her feeling lighter but at the same time more apprehensive. She had reinstated the old game between the two of them. Was this really the wisest decision she could have made? Probably not but done is done. Now the action rested on the brooding king in front of her.

When Jareth finally raised his wild blonde head, he did not look at Sarah or anywhere near the place she sat. His gaze was drawn out to the window and out over his domain. He leisurely walked over and leaned against a column that led out to the balcony through opened doors and breezy curtains. It had been early afternoon when Sarah had shown up in such a disheveled manner in his throne room. Now, after all their petty squabbles, it was clearly later in the day, the sinking sun indicating it would soon set and throw the Labyrinth into darkness. How very much like its lord. Looked like the day, filled with the night.

"What makes you think I won't take Toby, as I originally intended? He was a most congenial child and we got on rather well."

Sarah chose her next words both wisely and unwisely.

"You don't want Toby."

A click of a heeled boot was the only indication he had heard her. A breeze blew in from the outside, warm as it stirred the dark curtains and swept through Jareth's hair and softening the harshest of the lines away from his face.

"No, I don't want Toby."

Sarah stood up from her safest refuge so far, the couch, and padded on her bare feet to the same window he leaned near. They both looked out at the land that had been gentled by the slowly fading light. Sarah could see the twists and turns, the majority of them ending in dead ends or continuous double-backs that comprised the Labyrinth. Here and there she could spot a tiny moving dot that could only be a goblin meandering through the merciless paths. She turned to him.

"Give this land a sense of justice and fairness, a meaning to live in a place that won't continually beat down on you until you're nothing more than the dust on that hill. Let there be more than broken promises and unfulfilled vows." She dared to peek up at him and found Jareth staring at her in unabashed frankness and scrutiny, putting all her words to examination and not finding them…wanting. She had to gulp air in her lungs to finish her statement. "Just this once."

Jareth's intense gaze left her and Sarah was able to finally breathe normally again. He sighed deeply and reached one gloved hand out to her hair, finding a lock and gently holding onto it. He rubbed it between his thumb and fingers before dropping it and returning his hand to his mouth. Or rather to his nose, for his eyes closed and he inhaled deeply; it seemed as if he could smell her from barely touching her hair for a few brief moments.

Shocked by the contact, disbelieving he would so readily touch her again after his seeming revulsion earlier, Sarah flushed as pink her tank top and put a chilled hand to her hot neck.

"At long last your words make sense rather than to irritate." His words were not chilled but his tone was formal, undoubtedly due to her mini speech to him. Just then Sarah realized what she had just done. She had dictated to a king! Horrified, yet angered at his words, Sarah decided to do the smart thing for the first time and swallowed her pride. She did not say anything.

"I will give you your three hours."

Hope flashed bright and joyously but died a swift and harsh death.

"Not because I _owe_ you anything, precious. I am merely granting your whim, you cannot expect to solve in three hours what all have not done in lifetimes. For no one has solved my Labyrinth. No one. And when you fail, you will be mine. For forever and eternity."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: My lovely, wonderful, and most importantly, PATIENT readers! I am back and determined to finish the story! (I'll understand if you have to go back to the beginning and read again- I had to brush up on details myself .) I have included not one but TWO chapters to make up for the time I have spent away, hopefully that will placate you til I have rested my fingers and write more- which shall be soon! Enjoy!

Sarah paced. She paced and waited. Paced some more. Stared at her surroundings, scratched her head, tucked a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear, and paced again. She really ought to stop expecting anything out of the Goblin King or his Labyrinth, because what actually occurred was never what she expected.

For all intensive purposes, she was in an oubliette. Without a word, a rushing sound, or sickening feeling later, here she was. Really, there wasn't a better spot to sit and think about the secret no man, or woman, had ever found out before. It was dark, quiet, and nobody to bother her. Completely alone.

Usually Sarah would feel unnerved by how alone she was but here was secure and safe. And she had the feeling while Jareth was not listening or watching her, as soon as she cried out his name in anything like distress or need, he would be there. A rather twisted and out of the ordinary take on a guardian angel in her opinion. But a so very distracting and pleasing dark angel…

Sarah smacked the palms of her hands to her forehead. And then did it again. She was getting absolutely and completely nowhere. How hard it was to think of the unthinkable. It had to be, a secret so unimaginable that had to be reason no one had ever thought of it before. How was she to figure it out? Did she really think, her, Sarah Williams, would solve the enigma that was the Labyrinth?

She stared at the candle that was placed in the center of the oubliette and wandered over to it. By its small amount of light she could see that it was like the oubliette she had fallen into last time she "visited" the Labyrinth. It was almost identical but…not. Nothing was ever what it seemed in this place. She flipped a finger back and forth over the top of the wick at the base of the flame. Careful not to burn her fingers, she passed her hands over the tiny light in rapid motions before she grew discontented and flicked at it, almost sputtering out what small source of light she had.

"Cripes, you've done it now. Really, you have. You have the world's largest manifestation of the foot-and-mouth disease. Can't just put a lid on it, can you? And now you're talking to yourself like a loony." The need to sit down and just cry rose up in her throat and she choked on it. Sarah knew from personal experience that crying never solved anything but it was sure better than not doing anything else. It really would not solve anything and she needed the small amount of time that she was wasting away by dithering and blathering like the loony she had called herself!

She did sit down though, making sure there was a dry spot where no unimaginable substance might get on her or her clothes. There was no help for it though; she had to sit in the dust that was the oubliette floor. Her pajamas were going to need a serious washing after this; the pink was starting to look like the brown and the brown…oh, it was not good.

Now, you need to start now, Sarah. At the inner prompting, Sarah began to clear everything away to begin to think. She started physically. She gathered her hair back away from her face and out of her eyes into a low ponytail at the base of her neck with the hair tie attached at her wrist. Next, she crossed her legs out in front of her and loosely arranged her arms so they sloped down to rest on her knees. _How perfectly monk-like I am._ Lastly, she leaned her shoulders and her head back to rest against the wall lightly and closed her eyes. Strange that it wasn't cold in here. That one candle could not give off that much heat and she should be cold considering the amount of clothing she wore, but she was not.

Once she felt she was suitably ready in her body, Sarah began to blanket her mind. She had to scatter emotions, sweep them away and rid herself of the feelings that would tie her to her body and keep her present. Her worry for her little brother, her sense of duty to her parents, her frustration and attraction for Jareth, all gone.

oOo

Dropped like smooth, round pebbles in a bottomless, dark pool of water.

oOo

Blank, blank, it was all blank.

oOo

Too blank. There was nothing. Sarah could not think. Nothing would come to her, nothing of the Labyrinth.

Suppressing her irritation and casting it too away, Sarah opened her eyes and stared at the flame. Perhaps if she was able to concentrate on something without it distracting her it would help to encourage thoughts. At least a nudge in the right direction, that was all she was asking for.

The yellow of the wick stood steady and proud for all its size. It was light and darkness always gave way to light. Flame would always be. She became the flame, unwavering and silent. She was the flame. And what was the Labyrinth?

Images in the form of ideas burst on her mind, small like a splash of cool water and grew to a crescendo of fireworks on the darkest night of the year.

The Labyrinth was endless. Lifetimes upon lifetimes would pass and all the paths would never be walked. Was it always new or just old and never seen? Endless…

The Labyrinth was merciless. The goblin who had followed her and changed her marks so she never could find the right way back should she need to change a direction. Switching back and forth til she was hopelessly lost and no one, no one would help her. Merciless…

The Labyrinth was laughter. The childish laughter of a Firey as it threw its head to another player of the game and waddled over when the head refused to bounce back to the body. Cruel, tearing laughter as a wanderer faced the gate to the beginning…again. Laughter…

The Labyrinth was fantastic. The swirling, ephemeral appearances of the Goblin Court and the smell of peaches floating and falling around her, indulging and invading her every sense. Her every wish and dream fulfilled, even the ones she had not known she had. Fantastic…

The Labyrinth was lonely. All of those corridors empty and sad as no one would walk them. Empty footsteps ringing down a passage and going down another, never to return. A new image burst, almost blinding. Light and then utter darkness until fogginess replaced her sight. The cloudiest day imaginable was cast over a dark, dark green garden set against a silhouette of the castle. The sky cried as a statue ran unmoving and blind in one direction. Withered and dull flowers were strewn at the foot of the statue and one vine had even trailed up the leg and stopped just short of the other upraised foot. Even the gray of the rock could not hide the desperation and determination in the statue's face as she fought to run against the binds that held her still. It was Sarah.

Sarah came back to conscious reality with a start. There had been no statue or even a garden near the castle when she had been there last. So it was new. Why would Jareth place a constant reminder of her victory and his loss so close to him? No, Jareth would not have done that. A moment of realization dawned on her.

But the Labyrinth would have.


	8. Chapter 8

Jareth heard a crack deep somewhere within the heart of his castle. It grew louder and louder until suddenly it seemed to stop. Almost right outside his door. His heart skipped and beat in trepidation. Could it be…?

Then he felt the crack start at his toes, up his legs and torso until it ended at his head. He doubled over and his mouth opened in a silent **o**. He felt no pain. Only _knowing._

oOo

The Labyrinth placed the statue there. To remind Jareth, to remind the residents who wandered the paths, to warn strangers? Who? It could not have been in remembrance, it had only been a couple years, who could have already forgotten the victor of the Labyrinth? Unless the Labyrinth did not want to forget…it just did not make any _sense. _

The Labyrinth, the Labyrinth… Surely as King of the Labyrinth he could remove the statue at any time he wished, he controlled everything. Unless he could not control the Labyrinth. Because…

Because Jareth _was_ the Labyrinth.

oOo

She _knew._

oOo

Jareth slammed a fist down on the desk he had been recently sitting at but now was hunched over, breathing heavily and glaring. "By all that is holy…"

"What do you hold holy, Jareth?"

No rushing wind, no startling appearances, she was just there. As she had always been there. Belonged there.

Jareth gazed at Sarah, longing and despair permanently etched into the lines of his face. He fought to breathe, not to swear, to control his emotions…a most futile battle.

"You- you know now."

A statement without question if ever there was one.

"Yes. I know now."

Sarah was more serene in her demeanor and pose, even if her physical appearance belied her experience. She was dusty and had circles under her eyes from the deprivation of sleep which gave her almost a lethargic look. She was silent after that, completely still as she watched without him without fear.

"I thought no one would ever know. No one was ever supposed to know." It came out in almost a pained pant. Jareth sat down heavily and held his head in between his hands and looked the desk. A short time ago the world had been right and normal and, most importantly, _his._ Now it was strange, abnormal, and all hers. The world was falling down.

Jareth heard a small but not cruel laugh. "I don't think anyone would have figured it out. I only did because I had something on my side." He heard small steps next, coming from in front of his desk until they completed the half circle around until they stopped quite close to his left side. He refused to look.

"The similarities were so obvious. Every characteristic of the Labyrinth is a characteristic of you. The answer itself was so obvious that I am not surprised no one guessed, at least not out loud. The most obvious is the most hidden, isn't it?" She gave that small laugh again, to herself for sounding so sage and wise when all she had done was come to a realization. Well, two actually. Two that would change her life forever.

"I was only able to solve the riddle of Labyrinth because I had something the others did not. Or thought they had but really didn't." Jareth felt a touch on his hair, ever so light, drawing a sidelock away but only to have it fall back. But not before he saw a flash of dusty pink and brown, peach flash, and a manicured nail on a beautiful finger on the most beautiful hand he had ever seen.

"I had love on my side."

Jareth visibly jerked and sat straight up to stare at her full on in the face. Confusion was added to despair and longing now.

"Jareth, I know the truth now, don't be so confused. You love me. The Labyrinth added that statue of me, _you_ added that statue because you couldn't, didn't want to forget me or the time that I spent here with you. You wanted me here with you then and you still want me now. The Labyrinth let me know when you wouldn't." Her delicate, beautiful hand had slid from his hair to trace his jaw line until she held the side of his face gently. They stayed like this for endless moments until Jareth's stubbornness and pride escaped from him in the form of a sigh.

"Sarah…" He closed his eyes and leaned his head into her palm. It was so much easier to let go, when he did not have to fight his feelings, his situation, his fate anymore. He turned his head and kissed the inside of her palm and savored the smell of her skin. Jareth slid from his chair until he was sitting on the floor in front of her. Sarah knelt to the floor and held his golden head in her hands.

"I found the truth, Jareth. I know you. And I love you." With that, she raised his head and placed her lips solemnly and softly on his forehead, where he had carried the weight of crown, responsibility, and guilt for so long. With an uncharacteristic sob, Jareth drew Sarah to him, or rather drew to her. He buried his face below her heart into her softness as he clutched to his precious Sarah, his only anchor and love. Sarah cradled him close and leaned her dark head until her hair made an impenetrable waterfall around the two bodies whose hearts beat finally in synchronization. Only then did the world stop falling.


End file.
